I am a sucker for a Disney villainess! In fact, The Little Mermaid's Ursula and Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent made such an impression on me that, even as a child, I felt aggrieved when they met their untimely (and unfair) demises. I was especially annoyed with Ariel! She was the one who started the chain of events that *SPOILER* led to Ursula being popped like a giant cecaelia shaped balloon. That's manslaughter, man!
*Takes a few moments to recess life*
Anywho, why the Disney talk? Well there's a Diva connection to be had. Disney have decided the kick-ass Maleficient needs a back story, and have deemed that tale worthy of a live action film. Playing the demon fairy is the perfectly cast, and Oscar-winning, Angelina Jolie. Similarly perfect was the choice to ask Lana Del Rey to redo the animated film's dreamy theme song, Once Upon a Dream.
The original version of the song was one imbued with child-like romance, as the Princess Aurora wistfully sang about encountering a true love in a dream. Lana's version retains the childlike lyrics, but ages them up with a melancholy vocal delivery and a darker production. Thus the overall feel of the song shifts from idealised dream territory right onto the border of nightmare town. It doesn't quite end up stepping into the town, but it twerks along that line pretty finely.
I could envisage this being the way Aurora would sing the song if she'd reached her adult life without meeting her prince charming. Slightly weary and jaded, but still with a tinge of hope that one day she would meet that special someone. Perhaps it's how I should be singing it....
Thoughts?
